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A rig drills a well for Continental Resources east of Chickasha in 2018. [CHRIS LANDSBERGER/THE OKLAHOMAN]

Continental Resources suspended efforts to complete a well Thursday night after a 3.4-magnitude earthquake happened nearby.

The company voluntarily halted its efforts after the temblor struck about 5 miles northeast of Alex, a Grady County community located southeast of Chickasha on State Highway 19.

After the company discussed the issue with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s induced seismicity department and its consultants about how to proceed, it decided Friday to end completion activities on the Galvin 3-22-15XHW well, sending the crew to a different location instead.

In addition, it opted not to start a completion operation on another well in the same area scheduled to start soon.

Regulators said the company stated it intends to hold further discussions with the seismicity department — part of the agency’s Oil and Gas Conservation Division — before resuming any completion activities on wells in the immediate area.

Jake Walter, Oklahoma’s state seismologist, said Thursday’s temblor was fairly sizable for an earthquake observed near a well currently being completed.

“It is rare to see one this large.”

But it doesn’t hold the record.

A 3.6-magnitude earthquake that happened in late July in western Kingfisher County near wells another operator was working to complete is still believed to be the largest seismic event seen under those circumstances.

Like Continental, the owner of the wells then (Newfield/Encana/Ovintiv) also paused completion efforts.

In that particular case, subsequent completion efforts couldn’t be restarted for months because a swarm of strong aftershocks continued to shake the area after the initial temblor was observed.

Walter said the wells’ owner ultimately completed some after the shaking subsided.

Regulators adopted protocol designed to deal with seismic events that happen near a well undergoing completion operations in the SCOOP (South Central Oklahoma Oil Province) and STACK plays of the Anadarko Basin in 2016.

Generally, it requires operators to notify authorities and either reduce flows or pause operations after observing a magnitude 2 or stronger event during completion operations.

It also requires operators to pause completion efforts either for six or 12 hours to allow underground pressures to bleed away before work resumes, depending on observed magnitudes of stronger nearby temblors.

In early 2018, those protocols were tightened to require operators to access a seismic array capable of providing them with real-time readings while completion efforts are underway.

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Since Aug. 1, the agency’s induced seismicity office has logged 75 contacts with operators about seismic events that were 2.0 magnitude or stronger and happened near wells that were being completed at the same time.

Well over half — 46 — involved wells in Grady County.

Including Thursday’s earthquake, Oklahoma has experienced five temblors that have been a magnitude 3.0 or greater so far this year.

If the current pace continues, the state could see as few as 30 by the end of the year.

There were 62 such quakes in 2019, and 196 the year before.

Walter credits the slowdown in part to regulators’ decision to require operators to use other formations to dispose of produced water instead of the Arbuckle.

Additionally, he credited the trend to a lower volume of water being produced, in part because formations currently targeted for oil and gas production don’t hold as much saltwater as formations targeted previously held.

Meanwhile, the energy industry itself continues to slow because of declining worldwide demands for oil and gas while regulatory scrutiny that aims to keep problems at a minimum continues.

“All of those are having an impact,” Walter said.

“Oklahoma is producing more oil and gas now than it was in 2014 and 2015 and they are doing it without producing as many earthquakes,” he said. “That is a feather in the cap for the corporation commission and individual operators for the work they have done.”

Continental Resources' headquarters in downtown Oklahoma City is seen. [OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES] A rig drills a well for Continental Resources east of Chickasha in 2018. [CHRIS LANDSBERGER/THE OKLAHOMAN]

Jack Money

Jack Money has worked for The Oklahoman for more than 20 years. During that time, he has worked for the paper’s city, state, metro and business news desks, including serving for a while as an assistant city editor. Money has won state and regional...
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